No controls on the speaker itself. Can stutter at the beginning of new tracks. Distorts at high volumes.

Bottom Line

The Auvio Mini is a tiny Bluetooth speaker that delivers a stronger audio performance than one might expect for a very low price.

We review plenty of inexpensive Bluetooth speakers, but even then, most are in the $50 to $100 range. The Auvio Mini, at $22.99, is the least pricey option we've seen in some time. When we test a speaker at this price, we obviously don't expect mind-blowing audio—but how does it hold up against alternatives that cost twice as much? Is it really that much better than your phone's speaker? The Auvio Mini certainly gets louder than most phones do, and it pushes out more perceived bass. That said, you can definitely get better audio if you're willing to increase your budget a bit.

Design

Measuring 2.6 inches at the base and 2.3 inches at the top, the somewhat cylindrical Auvio Mini stands 2.8 inches high and is tiny enough for just about any bag or tote, though it's bulky enough that you'd need large pockets to carry it around on your person. Available in black, black-and-blue, or black-and-red, the speaker's top panel is a plastic speaker grille with several pentagonal openings, and this is the part that is either red, blue, or black—the rest of the speaker is black regardless of which model you purchase.

Beneath the grille, an upward firing 1.6-inch neodymium driver delivers mono audio. As noted, the speaker can get quite loud, and it feels like there's a tiny passive radiator buried in there, as the Auvio Mini will make your desk vibrate at higher volumes. Because of this, the speaker has a rubber ring around its bottom panel that (sometimes) keeps it from moving around due to the vibrations.

On the bottom panel, there are power and Bluetooth buttons, and along the lower rim of the circular outer panel, there's a status LED, a 3.5mm aux input, a micro USB port for charging, and a battery indicator. The Auvio Mini takes under three hours to fully charge, and gets roughly five hours of playback time, but your results will vary with your volume levels.

There are no playback, track navigation, or volume controls to speak of, nor is there a speakerphone function. Even at this low price, having a control panel doesn't seem like too much of an ask, so its absence is disappointing.

Other than a short micro USB charging cable, there are no included accessories. You'll have to supply your own 3.5mm audio cable for the aux input if you want to listen to the speaker via a wired connection.

Performance

Before we discuss the audio performance itself, it's worth mentioning one annoyance: Newly navigated-to tracks will often skip or stutter in the first few seconds of playback. This is common among cheaper Bluetooth speakers, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating.

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the Auvio Mini delivers an admirable attempt at deep bass at moderate volumes—we get the slightest hint of low-end rumble, and the speaker vibrates quite a bit. Raise the volume and distortion creeps in, and the speaker's rubber ring is no match for its vibrations—it danced across our table on this track.

Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track without any deep bass, gives the Auvio Mini far fewer problems. At moderate to high volumes, Callahan's baritone vocals have a subtle richness to them, but what we really hear is crisp treble edge giving his vocals and the guitar strumming definition and detail. However, turning this track up will also cause distortion.

The same is basically true of Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," though surprisingly, there's less distortion on this track at top volumes than the other two (but still plenty of tabletop dancing due to vibrations). The driver delivers the vocals on this track clearly and cleanly.

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound crisp and clear, with a subtle hint of bass presence from the lower register instrumentation. Overall, this is a bright sound, not a terribly rich one.

Conclusions

If you're seeking booming bass response, the Auvio Mini is obviously not going to work for you. This is a budget speaker with correspondingly modest audio performance. It packs a little more low-end than you might expect, but it also distorts at higher volumes, and scoots around flat surfaces when you crank things up. If you're willing to spend a bit more, the JBL Clip 2, Polk Boom Swimmer Jr., and Emie Radio all deliver stronger performance in the $50 range. For a bigger boost in bass, you'll need to spend more: The JBL Flip 4 delivers solid lows for a somewhat budget-friendly price.

Auvio Mini

Auvio Mini

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